Mass Media and Its Effects on Today's Society

I want to be a Nickelodeon kid!" the five year old chanted and swayed along with the hyper-colourful cavorting youngsters on the commercial. Even after the TV was off, she hopped around the room proclaiming her desire to belong to the Nickelodeon network. We know the girl didn't realize what she was saying, but it's an excellent example of how malleable human beings are. Television is an unprecedented powerful medium, combining rapid sight and sound in a way that has a tremendous and impacted psychological effect. Companies wouldn't pay millions of dollars for a 30-second commercial during major sporting events like the Olympics if this weren't the case. Adults may not run around their living rooms chanting "I want to drive a Land cruiser!" but millions of them flock to car showrooms every year to purchase all-terrain vehicles half the price of a unit that will never touch any terrain but pavement. Various media ranging from adverts such as these, to so-called movie classics' like "The Godfather" are negative influences on today's society. Millions every day are forced to sit through programs that portray actors doing things which most would find unethical and wrong. So what's the difference between watching someone acting out a murder or sex scene on television, and witnessing the real thing firsthand? Why is it that, if we were to accidentally open the wrong hotel room door and find a man and woman doing certain things together, we would feel everything from embarrassment to nausea, but when we see the same things on a TV in our own hotel room, we are transfixed with curiosity? Why is it that millions of cinema-goers will flock to see "Saving Private Ryan" or "Black Hawk Down" for a simulation of the same experience that caused millions of war veterans post-traumatic shock and severe depression? When I recently decided to watch the latest reality TV show, I was surprised at how drained and listless I felt afterwards. Apart from the dreary,...

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...Living in a society which depends mostly upon technology for news, entertainment and education, the massmedia is one of the greatest influential factors on the opinions and viewpoints of the younger generation. Some examples of media influences include magazines, internet, television, books and radio. All of these sources help shape the beliefs of what social life, culture, religion, or politics should be in the minds of younger people, sometimes at unrealistic standards. The massmedia is a very helpful and relatively quick way to gain knowledge and insight as to what is going on in the world, but as with anything else, where there are positive effects, the negatives will soon follow.
“Youths now have access to more violent images than at any other time in United States history, and these images are available in a diverse array of electronic sources: television, movies, video games, and music.” (Alexander and Hanson 384) The massmedia is becoming very powerful, maybe even beyond the point of sole entertainment. When it comes to the younger generation, the power and influence of the media isn’t necessarily a good thing. The violence that the younger generation is exposed to on a daily basis seems to have a direct correlation to the rise of violence in society today. “It must remembered and realized that if we are...

...The media today is having a profound effect on society, especially its youth. When it comes to people’s behavior in society, adolescents usually look to the media for guidance. Teens today today are reliant on the media to tell them what is acceptable and what is not. It tells them how to look, how to act, even what to say. Social media definitely has an impact on the daily life of a teen. Most teens have some way to connect with friends using a social networking site. Young adults, much like the citizens of the distopian society in Fahrenheit 451, are dependent on the media for guidance and are almost unable to function without it. The media is brainwashing adolescents into changing their views of acceptable behavior and body image. It is also making them dependent upon the internet social media.
The inflicting media has strongly influenced the behavior of adolescents today. First of all, violence in the media has been a huge problem among adolescents. Media violence is desensitizing viewers, most of whom are children and adolescents, to real life violence. This gives them false and distorted views of the world, causing them to be far more aggressive and restless. Also, most children's television shows these days depict violent and foolish acts with no moral or...

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Does media ownership matter? In an age of freedom of information and the individual right of free speech, are the owners of media agencies and outlets really agenda setters and gatekeepers of information? A review of current communication and political economy literature concludes that media ownership does matter. Although predominantly subtly and indirectly the owners of the media outlets do still steer public opinion and build the dominant discourses of society. The following analysis of literature argues that owners still do hold a powerful role in the production and distribution of news and media products.
An outline of relevant theoretical concepts will lay a foundation for this analysis. One of the primary frameworks scholars have analysed the media through is the theory of Political Economy, Andrew Calabrese in his book ‘Towards a Political Economy of Culture: capitalism and communication in the twenty-first century (2004)’ describes political economy as “always being concerned with analyzing a structure of social relations and of social power. But it is particularly concerned to analyse the peculiarities of that system of social power called capitalism (2004).” Congruent with this Herman and Chomsky in their book ‘Manufacturing Consent (1997)’, construct the propaganda model which...

...Impact of MassMedia on Individuals, Society, and Culture
Massmedia, over the years, has had a profound effect on American society, on its culture, and on the individuals exposed to the media. Massmedia is a form of socialization, having a long-term effect on each member of American society. While massmedia targets the individual in short-term intervals, the overall influence on them has been established as the consumer moves from one impressionable age category to another. The long or short- term effects of massmedia are separate and distinct when its role in America is evaluated. Massmediaeffects people differently because of varied amounts of exposure and formats.
Massmedia has a socialization function in American society, in the culture, and on individuals. Massmedia has played a role of socialization in our society over the years: Socialization is a long-term process that every human being undergoes as he or she becomes a functioning member of society. Socialization refers to the internalizing of all of the lessons from many sources concerning ways of behaving that are approved or...

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Massmedia influences the way people live culturally, discuss 4 mediums using any two media theories you have studied
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All mediums whether moving or still, mechanical or electrical, in black, white or colour, text or with pictures, diagrams or cartoons can substantially improve communication. These are effective when communicating with an audience or mass that must read, listen or watch. All these help put messages across convincingly, hence they have an influence on culture as what you read, listen to and watch might make a shift in the way an individual behaves. This discussion will help look at different medium channels and how they have impacted on culture and the community in general.
The media influence has grown so much with the advancement of fast moving technology. When we start talking of mediums, we look at aspects like the telegraph, radio, newspaper, different magazines, television and the internet.
The society we live in currently needs information and communication. Whether the media conveys the positive or the negative information, people still depend on it like never before. The media today is either building or disfiguring the community it exists in. The media offers all sorts, from entertainment, healthcare, education, personal, relationships, travel and anything else that the human mind can think of and get involved...

...Ryan Welch
Final Exam Essay
B Block
5/31/13
In today’ssociety, popular belief seems to be the main thing that keeps people around the world fighting for their own cause. Whether the cause involves religion, segregation or anything else, people will in some instances fight to the death to make sure that their cause reigns supreme over others. In today’s generation, music, social media and multimedia rule in a world that evolves around it. It can corrupt someone’s mind and make them think about what is right and what is wrong, which may conflict with what is actually right and form opinions toward something else that may not be true. It acts as a form of propaganda in its own way, which not many people would think to be true, and makes them think that whatever they hear or read must be right. The world has definitely changed the Great Depression back in the 1920’s and 30’s, and the people have changed as well.
Music and television in today’s generation has definitely taken a toll on what people, especially people under the age of eighteen, think about what they can and can’t do. Rappers jumble all of their words together and talk about drugs, sex and breaking the law in serious ways, and the worst part? They make it sound like fun. Kids will be kids, and the fact that we see kids under the age of eighteen getting arrested on the news and being on TV shows called “16 and Pregnant” is just...

...MassMedia Influence on Society
With the invention of the printing press, influential works of writing could be mass-produced and sent around the world. As the centuries passed, media was able to travel faster, with the use of telegrams and as of the past hundred years, even faster with radio, magazines, television and the internet. Today, we rely heavily on television, radio and the internet for up-to-date news and entertainment. These forms of massmedia influence most every aspect of the society we live in.
Massmedia is a significant source of culture in the United States, almost the very essence of what makes up the nation. It is referred to as mediated culture in sociology, where the media creates or greatly influences the culture or society. (CliffNotes.com) Without movies, internet, radio and television, there would be no concept of celebrity. As little as a hundred years ago, celebrities were those with great influence in society, such as politicians, business owners or leaders and notorious criminals. Now, celebrities are actors, actresses, musicians, and other social elites in addition to what was considered celebrity in the earlier centuries. Because of the influence these celebrities have on the public, especially the youth, societies have...

...﻿Over decades, massmedia has been used to propagate information to the target audience. It has been a powerful tool that has been used by different people to express their interests on their audience. However, it comes with both positive and negative effects to the society depending on the channel used. Sometimes, channels are not sensitive on the kind of audience thus arousing fear, controversy, violence, or other emotions associated with the message being conveyed.
Many experts have conducted research on the effects of massmedia on the youth (Guarino & Carter, 2013). Their findings indicate that massmedia has a positive effect on the young people due to its educative nature. However, they advise that the youth should be exposed to information that is in synch with their development phase.
All the media sources enhance knowledge through provision of information. For instance, news increases self-awareness by updating the audience about the daily events happening in the society. This develops concern about social issues within the population segment, which is most productive.
Massmedia not only gives the latest news and trends, but also contributes to the enhancement of vocabularies and command of language. Young & Launer (2011) explain that advancement of general...